By evening, Chennai's heat had calmed into a warm, restless breeze. Streetlights flickered awake one by one, autos honked their nightly chorus, and Vicky stood outside the tech park entrance with a backpack that suddenly felt five kilos heavier than it actually was.
His mouth was dry.
His heartbeat was steady… but only because Rani was whispering breathing patterns into his ear through the tiny earpiece.
Rani: "Inhale for four counts. Hold for one. Exhale for six. Again."
Vicky: "Rani… if I pass out here, you carry me?"
Rani: "You are not heavy. You are simply dramatic. Move."
He swallowed hard and stepped toward the pedestrian entry gate.
Tonight wasn't just a plan.
Tonight was action.
THE TIMING WINDOW
The TCS Butterfly campus had three layers of security:
Outer Gate (ID Check)
Lobby Scanner (RFID + Face)
Inner Floor Doors (Access Tag)
His entry window was 8:14 PM to 8:17 PM, the gap when:
Shift 2 employees left
Shift 3 employees arrived
The security team changed duty
The front desk computer rebooted its log console for the nightly sync
Rani had mapped every second after scanning a week's worth of CCTV metadata scraped from public job portals and maintenance contractor sites.
Rani: "Your objective remains unchanged — reach the sublevel access node where the Beacon picked up the double ping."
Vicky: "Basement 1?"
Rani: "Basement -1.5. The restricted partial floor."
He blinked.
Vicky: "…there's a minus point five floor?"
Rani: "Corporations and governments always hide illegal things between legal ones. Move."
STEP 1 — ENTER
He slipped into the crowd of TCS employees walking toward the gate.
Everyone was half-asleep or on their phones.
Classic corporate mode.
Vicky lowered his head, adjusted his cap, held his dummy access card casually between two fingers, exactly like everyone else.
The guard scanned people lazily.
"ID… ID… ID… Appo next…"
His hand reached out toward Vicky.
The dummy access card buzzed faintly.
Rani's voice murmured:
Rani: "Walk. Do not pause. Their scanner only checks RFID pings, not employee photos."
Beep.
Green light.
Gate opened.
He exhaled a breath he'd been holding for thirty seconds.
STEP 2 — LOBBY SCANNER
The lobby was brightly lit, unnecessarily cold, and smelled like sanitizer and overpriced coffee.
A cylindrical scanner stood near the elevators.
A glass gate.
A bored security woman behind a desk.
"Swipe ID."
A queue formed.
One by one, people walked through the scanner which flashed blue when a valid pairing was detected.
Vicky stood in line, palms sweaty.
Rani: "Your static mask is active. Stand straight. Look bored."
Vicky: "I am bored. And terrified."
Rani: "Good combination. Step forward."
His turn.
He placed the dummy card.
The scanner flashed—
Green.
For a moment, he almost smiled.
Then the scanner beeped again.
A tiny, extra chirp.
His stomach dropped.
The guard raised an eyebrow.
"What was that?" she asked.
Rani's voice sharpened:
Rani: "Interference. Someone else scanned at the same millisecond. Keep walking."
Vicky forced a casual shrug and stepped forward.
The guard frowned… but didn't stop him.
STEP 3 — THE SPINE CORRIDOR
Inside the elevator, he leaned back and let out a silent gasp.
The doors closed.
He pressed B1 — Basements were common for server floors and power units, no suspicion.
As the elevator moved down, Rani projected a tiny holo-map on his watch.
Rani: "Once on B1, take the maintenance corridor. There is a hidden lift beyond a locked panel. I will guide your picks."
Vicky: "You mean break in?"
Rani: "Technically, enter without invitation."
Vicky: "That is the definition of breaking in!"
The lift stopped.
Doors opened.
THE WRONG PERSON AT THE WRONG TIME
A man stood outside the elevator.
Tall.
Broad-shouldered.
Black TCS badge.
And familiar.
Vicky's stomach tightened.
It was one of the senior security officers from the previous tour.
Their eyes met.
For a heartbeat, the man's eyebrows furrowed, recognition forming.
Rani (urgent whisper): "Abort conversation. Divert."
Vicky did the only thing his panic brain could think of:
He pretended to sneeze violently and sprinted toward the washroom.
"HEY! HEY! YOU—!" the man shouted.
Vicky slammed the washroom door behind him and dove into a stall.
Footsteps approached.
He froze.
Rani: "Calm. He will not open each stall with his bare hands. Humans have social boundaries in bathrooms."
Vicky (whispering): "Thank god for bathroom etiquette…"
The footsteps paused.
Then retreated.
Door opened. Closed.
Silence.
Rani exhaled — as close to relief as an AI could sound.
Rani: "We proceed. Carefully."
THE PANEL
Five minutes later, Vicky slipped through the maintenance corridor.
It was dim, cool, with humming pipes lining the walls.
Finally, he reached the panel Rani had marked.
He knelt and examined it.
A plain utility panel.
Blue sticker: TCS ELECTRICAL SUB-ROUTE — DO NOT OPEN.
He slid the thin pick-tool in.
Rani: "Rotate thirty degrees. Lift. Push inward. Hold."
Click.
The panel lifted.
Behind it was a narrower metallic door with a biometric key slot.
Vicky swallowed.
Vicky: "Uhh… Rani? This needs a thumb. Not my thumb."
Rani: "I know. Step closer."
He leaned in.
A soft tone emitted from the Beacon in his pocket.
The scanner flashed—
cycled—
then turned green.
Rani: "I spoofed a key from the maintenance supervisor's badge logs. Move."
The hidden lift door slid open.
THE DESCENT
He stepped inside.
Dim lights.
Cold air.
A small cabin with no buttons except one, glowing:
-1.5
He pressed it.
The lift hummed quietly.
Then…
a faint vibration.
A strange pressure in his ears.
Halfway down, Rani spoke softly.
Rani: "Vicky. When we reach the lower floor — be prepared. The Beacon data suggests something… abnormal here."
Vicky: "Abnormal how?"
Rani: "…I do not know yet."
The lift slowed.
Stopped.
Door opened.
AND THEN—
The corridor ahead was completely dark.
No lights.
No sound.
A long, empty hallway stretching into blackness.
He took a single step forward.
The moment his foot touched the floor—
A soft voice echoed in the dark:
"...Vicky?"
His blood ran cold.
"...who's there?" he whispered.
The darkness shifted.
And a girl stepped into faint emergency light, pale and trembling, wearing a hospital-like gown with OSBO UNIT printed on the chest.
Her face—
Her eyes—
Everything matched the girl from the rooftop.
The one who shattered.
She looked right at him.
As if she'd been waiting.
"Vicky…
you finally came…"